Bats call PIA building home

Employees of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) in Quezon City are worried about their health because bats have taken over their decrepit building. This despite claims by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) that rehabilitation work on the edifice is underway.

The unfinished rehabilitation is considered another “ghost project” due to the alleged collusion between the DPWH and a contractor.

“We are talking about occupational safety here because many bats already live in the building. We all know some diseases can be caught from them. This building is truly condemned. And we do not believe in the press release of the DPWH that they will continue the work in this contaminated building,” a source told DAILY TRIBUNE in an interview.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States, bats, particularly fruit bats, can spread the Nipah virus, a serious and sometimes deadly viral disease.

Fruit bats spread the Nipah virus which can be spread from person to person and make people and other animals sick.

“If we don’t catch a virus here, we might end up buried under this building when a strong earthquake hits. Occupational hazard and dirty working conditions at their finest,” the source said.

Earlier, another source disclosed that the rehabilitation of the PIA Building on Sta. Catalina Street, Barangay Holy Spirit, at a budget cost of P48,754,901.07 funded under the General Appropriations Act of 2024 with contractor C.E.M. Construction Inc. remained uncompleted.

A tarpaulin in front of the structure states the project commenced on 20 September 2024 and was supposed to have been completed by 16 July 2025.

C.E.M. Construction, based in Cainta, Rizal, has been linked to resigned Bulacan First District engineer Bryan Alcantara through a P47.03-million DPWH contract for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Plaridel Bypass Road signed in March 2023.

Gomez: Ongoing rehab

Sought for comment on Tuesday, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Dave Gomez, after checking with DPWH, said the rehabilitation was ongoing, even though the source said that only the tile floors of the comfort rooms were renovated.

To date, the rehabilitation is ongoing as variation orders have been issued by the DPWH, extending the project’s original completion timeline.

Gomez said that all project funds are sourced exclusively from the DPWH’s budget, and the PIA is not involved in the procurement, implementation, or management, nor does it have any connection to the contractor, C.E.M. Construction Inc.

“The DPWH is just deceiving Secretary Dave Gomez. It’s as if he needs to personally verify the situation himself. The contractor was supposed to follow a set completion date, but it wasn’t met. Also, the building isn’t for renovation anymore — it’s already condemned. The maximum lifespan of a building is only 50 years, and the PIA building is already 43 years old. The contractor is clearly accountable here since the project was supposed to have been completed by 16 July. And if it hadn’t been uncovered and exposed, this would have definitely been considered a ghost project,” the source said.

Further, the source recalled that an official from one of the offices in the PIA Building had requested P300 million in a Senate hearing for constructing a new PIA building.

PCO-attached agencies that are using the PIA Building are the PIA, Radyo Pilipinas and the Philippine News Agency.